| Description | Bank of four extant limekilns, all with barrel arched draw hole openings surviving intact, and located immediately adjacent to the Leeds Liverpool Canal at Micklethwaite, Bingley (Johnson, 2011). Clarke (1990, p.150 1) records that although the limestone traffic never fulfilled the expectations of the late 18th century proprietors of the Leeds Liverpool Canal (constructed in the 1770s), following the completion of the line of the canal to Skipton and the construction of the Springs Branch (1773), Lord Thanet’s quarries near Skipton Castle were able to supply much of the available demand. In the late 18th century agriculture and building accounted for about ninety percent of the lime produced.
Many limekilns such as the three in question were erected alongside the canal, particularly in the Bingley and Shipley areas (Clarke 1990, p.151). In the 1760s when coal was seen as a minor commodity, apart from domestic use, its primarily use was for burning limestone which was seen as an important commodity by investors in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Clarke (1990, p.152) describes the change in the use of coal to be ‘The beginning of the Industrial Revolution and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal was a significant catalyst’. Clarke (1990, p.151) describes this expansion of the canal as fortuitous as in 1783 the partnership of Preston Hird and Jarrat (key stake holders in the Leeds and Liverpool Canal Company) purchased the Bradford Lime kiln Company which in 1788 led to the establishment of Low Moor Ironworks (PRN 3794). Large quantities of limestone were required for iron smelting and this company became the main purchaser from the quarries (Clarke 1990, p.151). Extant limekilns of this period are extremely rare and there are only a small number remaining in West Yorkshire, and these are an excellent example of their type.
The lime kilns are shown on the Bingley tithe award map of 1849 as ‘Lime Kilns’ and are also shown on the first edition OS map surveyed in 1847 8.
The kilns are located within the Leeds and Liverpool Canal Conservation Area (BMDC 2006, Map 13)
An application for listing the limekilns was submitted to English Heritage in early 2011, however it was concluded that they should not be added to the statutory list in April 2011. In their assessment they believed that the limekilns are not those marked on the two 19th century OS maps, and the physical evidence does not support the assertion that the surviving structures are limekilns. In their advice report (following a site visit) English Heritage made the following comments:
''There is only one hole at the top of the embankment, and this is clearly a later construct, possibly associated with reuse of the chambers as air raid shelters. There is no sign within the chambers themselves of former access points from above, which would have been required for a draw kiln. The small blocked openings between the chambers would have no function within a lime kiln, though it is unclear whether they are contemporary or what function they may have had. The masonry wall appears to have been constructed to support a loading platform alongside the canal, and is part of the terracing required to maintain the level of the canal as its runs along the steep hillside in this vicinity. The chambers below may have been used for storage of materials, either for the adjacent or for goods associated with the nearby mills. A site inspection found no trace of the limekilns themselves.''
As such the supposed limekiln structures were not recommended for designation for the following principal reasons:
Form and Function: although they have been identified as limekilns in a variety of sources, they could not have functioned as such and are more likely to be storage areas within the terraced banking alongside the Leeds Liverpool Canal. As such they do not possess special interest in the national context. |